Another issue facing California citizens are the tax increases every year, the money is not going to the correct funding, since we do not choose that but legislators and the governor of the state. California will pay more than $50 million to treat inmates this year according to the data from the federal receiver who oversees California prison healthcare. (Jack Dallan). Most of that money is also for opportunities for inmates that qualify for Parole and for incapacitation.
The problem with the prison system budget in California is that health care money is “missing out” on several million dollars a year in federal funding. Another problem stating this issue is that around 35 counties through California refuse to accept funding from the states. $13 million dollars is missing (Blake Bunch). It is important to know where the budget or the money is going, because the prison or jail system is no providing health care to the inmates.
Governor Brown believe the state spends too much on inmates is $ 1.6 billion from $ 2, billion and it is been like this for years. There are many issues...
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
The flaws of the prison system not only affect inmates and their families, but affect every Californian. It is ironic that prison are created to protect society, but it also an institution that hurts society. More of state budget is moved into maintaining the flawed prison system at the expense of education and social services. Ironically, money for education and social services aid in preventing criminal population.
Eight-hundred inmate lawsuits costing $1.7 million were filed in Ohio in 1995 and as many as 95 percent of those cases were dismissed. A total of 53,312 inmate lawsuits were filed nationwide in federal courts in 1994, this comes at a total of $113 billion dollars* of tax money esse...
As we know the federal government spends a large portion of our budget on the maintaining of prisons. During the 2011 fiscal year it cost nearly $29,000 to house a prisoner in a state penitentiary per year as stated by the Federal Register. The funds that are estimated to keep a prison running end up running over the prediction causing them go over budget. We can account for this because according to The Price of Prisons|Oklahoma on Vera.org, here in the state of Oklahoma the Oklahoma Department of Corrections called for $441.8 million taxpayer dollars in the 2010 fiscal year. The actual cost for the maintenance of the prisons called for $453.4 million taxpayer dollars. This is about $11.6 million taxpayer dollars over the set budget for the year. This proves that there are too many things that need to be taken care of in these facilities. Much of the money went to paying employee benefits and to capital costs which is also stated in this article. Instead of using the money to pay for employee benefits they should be using it to pay for what the inmates need. This causes a strain on citizens because they are obligated into paying more taxes. The money being used on prison employee benefits could be going to other programs such as education and Social Security which would benefit more
Prison Reform in The United States of America “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones” (Nelson Mandela, 1994). The United States of America has more people behind bars than any other country on the planet. The prisons are at over double capacity. It cost a lot of money to house prisoners each year.
The proliferation of prison overcrowding has been a rising concern for the U.S. The growing prison population poses considerable health and safety risks to prison staffs and employees, as well as to inmates themselves. The risks will continue to increase if no immediate actions are taken. Whereas fighting proliferation is fundamentally the duty of the U.S. government, prison overcrowding has exposed that the U.S. government will need to take measures to combat the flaws in the prison and criminal justice system. Restructuring the government to combat the danger of prison overcrowding, specifically in California, thus requires reforms that reestablishes the penal codes, increases the state’s budget, and develops opportunities for paroles to prevent their return to prison. The following context will examine and discuss the different approaches to reduce the population of state prisons in California in order to avoid prison overcrowding.
Throughout the years that prisons have been in operations we have seen many issues arise when it comes to maintaining prisons on a budget. According to the Cheat Sheet article the cost of housing inmates varies from state to state. The average cost per inmate was $31,286 a year in order to take care of them (The Cheat Sheet). New York is at the top of the list when it comes to cost per inmate which is on average $60,076 per prisoner (The Cheat Sheet). In my opinion, these numbers are very alarming, especially when it comes to taxpayer dollars being spent on inmates. According to the Cheat Sheet article the annual price to taxpayers was over 39 billion dollars. Even though these numbers are at an all-time high, state policymakers have taken into account the cost of housing each inmate. The state imprisonment rate declined, this is in part due to the fact that state lawmakers researched driven policy changes to control prison growth, reduce recidivism,
People may say that the problem with overcrowding of prisons does not affect them, but if you’re a taxpayer this prob...
Taxpayers pay for so many things like law enforcement, construction work, fire fighter services, and etc. Part of what they pay every year goes to the medical department in jails and prisons. Taxpayers should not pay for the health care of inmates. They pay for incurable medical conditions. They should not pay for inmates with mental illness. Lastly, taxpayers should not pay for their oral needs. They have so much to worry about; inmates and their needs should be the last thing they should worry about. They should not pay for incurable medical conditions, mental illnesses, or oral care.
According to the Death Penalty Center “cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases where the death penalty is sought cost $1.26 million”. This is a lot of money to execute someone. Our government could use that money to fund different projects and help better our communities by building research centers or more libraries. Also, as the Law Dictionary states, “the average cost of housing an inmate in the U.S is $31,286 in 2012”. This is not a lot of money considering that it cost “$1.26 million” just to execute someone. Our government could save a lot of money by sentencing prisoners to life in prison without parole. The government can use this money to offer more public transportation. According to Prison Policy Initiative, “the amount that California could save $90 million per year by abolishing capital punishment”. California could use this money to fund their criminal enforcement task force to protect citizens and keep the state safer. Taxpayers shouldn’t pay an increasing amount of tax to execute someone when they should be lawfully punished in a cheaper and moral
In the essay "Prison "Reform" in America," Roger T. Pray points out the much attention that has been devoted to research to help prevent crimes. Showing criminals the errors of their ways not by brutal punishment, but by locking them up in the attempt to reform them. Robert Pray, who is a prison psychologist, is currently a researcher with the Utah Dept. of Corrections. He has seen what has become of our prison system and easily shows us that there is really no such thing as "Prison Reform"
With prisons growing at the rate they are now, there must be more funding. 1 out of every 131 U.S citizens is incarcerated. The rest of the citizens have to pay for this person to have a place to sleep, eat, and exercise out of their taxes. These taxes can and should be used for more important issues. I...
Private Prisons A private prison or for-profit prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically have contractual agreements with the governments that commit prisoners and then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in that private facility. Private prisons have been part of the system for quite some years now, specifically for involvement in corrections. Private for-profit prison management started rising in the 1980s, they represented a qualitative shift in the relation between corrections and private business.
The first issue that I would like to address is the overcrowding issues in prisons. In my opinion, overcrowding issues are the biggest issues in our correctional system that concerns every citizen. Running a prison required money, resources and manpower, with overcrowding issues, the government would have no choice but to increase the number of correctional facilities, privatized prisons and increasing manpower. According to (Levitt, 1996), “The incarceration rate in the United States has more than tripled in the last two decades. At year-end 1994 the United States prison population exceeded one million. Annual government outlays on prisons are roughly $40 billion per year. The rate of imprisonment in the United States is three to four times greater than most European countries.” (p.1). Overcrowding issues are not only affect prisons but the society as a whole as well. The reason is simply because prison population directly refl...
Many believed that the US state’s soaring expenditures and special interest politics are pushing states towards record budget deficits, causing a lack of funding towards education, health care, the poor, and even state correction system (Petersilia 2008). It is paramount that out government find ways to utilized government spending wisely towards all the principles mentioned, even towards state correction systems. Our government needs to put individuals in place to analyze prison systems and find ways to resolve the issues with recidivism. From the data collected, the government could learn the best methods of utilizing funding towards innovative programs to help with reform and